AFRICA: South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has ordered all government troops to cease fighting rebel forces as part of a peace agreement, his spokesman said, ahead of a full ceasefire on Saturday.

AMERICAS: Tropical Storm Erika left at least 20 people dead when it swept over the tiny island nation of Dominica, officials reported, as the system barreled through the Caribbean.

ASIA: Thousands of Malaysians streamed into central Kuala Lumpur to call for the prime minister’s ouster over corruption allegations and demand broader reforms, spurning warnings by police who have declared the rally illegal.

EUROPE: Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu formed an interim pre-election government that gives a pro-Kurdish party seats in cabinet for the first time.

MIDDLE EAST: A brief truce between Syrian regime forces and rebel groups in three key towns ended as the warring parties resumed clashes and shelling, a monitoring group and a mediator said.

TECHNOLOGY: Portugal’s Constitutional Court has disallowed legislation that would have given intelligence agencies access to private communications metadata.

TOP STORY

Venezuela: Government continues deporting Colombian migrants

President Nicolas Maduro expanded the state of emergency and border closure he called last week to more cities on the western edge of the country and said he would send an additional 3,000 soldiers to the area.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries are strained though Colombian FM Maria Angela Holguin said severing ties with Venezuela would be “unthinkable.”

Holguin stated that Organization of American States (OAS) and the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) are analyzing the humanitarian crisis caused by the mass deportations.

Venezuelan state governor Jose Gregorio Vielma Mora claimed the deportation of Colombian migrants as being done with respect to their human rights.

Ambassadors to both nations have been recalled in protest.

Over 1,000 Colombians have been deported and another 6,000 have left in fear of deportation.

The triggering incident occurred last week when unidentified gunmen left three Venezuelan border guards and one civilian injured. Pres. Maduro was quick to blame Colombia.

Guinea-Bissau: Guinea-Bissau’s army has pledged to stay out of a political struggle in the coup-prone west African country, a UN envoy said. (AFP)

Mali: A government-allied militia says it won’t follow demands by an international peace monitoring group to leave a northern town that it took from separatists last week. (AP)

Nigeria: Members of a civilian defense group say Boko Haram extremists have killed up to 28 people during attacks on remote farming and fishing villages in the northeast. (AP)

South Sudan: President Salva Kiir has ordered all government troops to cease fighting rebel forces as part of a peace agreement, his spokesman said, ahead of a full ceasefire on Saturday. (AFP)

AMERICAS

Dominica: Tropical Storm Erika left at least 20 people dead when it swept over the tiny island nation, as the system barreled through the Caribbean. (AFP)

United States: Officials named a senior envoy to work for the safe return of hostages after criticism of its response to the kidnap and murder of citizens held in Syria. (AFP)

ASIA

Region: China has urged Japan to stop all provocations after the Japanese Cabinet Secretariat published some information on its website alleging Diaoyu islands belong to Japan. (Xinhua)

Afghanistan: A total of 72 militants have been killed during army operations and airstrikes within the past two days, said the country’s Defense Ministry. (Xinhua)

Japan: A rift has emerged in the country’s largest “yakuza” organized crime syndicate, the government has said, with police warning that the split could lead to a wave of gang violence. (AFP)

Malaysia: Thousands of citizens streamed into central Kuala Lumpur to call for the prime minister’s ouster over corruption allegations and demand broader reforms, spurning warnings by police who have declared the rally illegal. (AFP)

Thailand: Police said they have arrested a man “likely involved” with a deadly bomb attack in Bangkok last week that killed 20 people and wounded scores more. (AFP)

Greece: A decree setting early elections for September 20 was signed by President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, the state news agency ANA said. (AFP)

Turkey: Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu formed an interim pre-election government that gives a pro-Kurdish party seats in cabinet for the first time. (AFP)

MIDDLE EAST

Bahrain: Police arrested several suspects hours after a deadly bomb blast in Karannah village in which a policeman was killed and four others injured, according to Bahrain’s Interior Ministry (Xinhua)

Egypt: A court sentenced three Al-Jazeera English journalists to three years in prison, the last twist in a long-running trial criticized worldwide by press freedom advocates and human rights activists. (AP)

Iraq: At least 14 soldiers and pro-government fighters were killed and 16 others injured in a double attack in the northern Iraqi city of Ramadi. (DPA)

Syria: A brief truce between regime forces and rebel groups in three key towns ended as the warring parties resumed clashes and shelling, a monitoring group and a mediator said. (AFP)

TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS

Metadata: Portugal’s Constitutional Court has disallowed legislation that would have given intelligence agencies access to private communications metadata. (AP)